My Family

Friday, May 31, 2013

School got over on the 24th and then off to the lake we went! Whiskey had never been to the lake before, so as you can see, he was really excited!! I just love his ears!

We went to Lake Tenkiller and camped out on an island. Most people know I'm not a huge fan of camping, but I put my game face on every year for Trevor because I know he enjoys it! Here are some photos of the weekend!

Celebrating America!

me and Katy

Trevor and his dad

We had 3 pups joining us on this trip! I decided to leave little Winston at home since there would be a lot more company than usual!

Bev's dog Rio

Bobby's lab Preacher

and Mr. Whiskey

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Trevor grilling

The next morning we got up pretty early (since we were in tents and the sun started coming up) and we went fishing!! I was so excited because I was the only one who caught anything!!!

Then we went back to hang out with my brother and his friends!

Bobby and Rio

Overall, it was a GREAT weekend!! On Monday morning we got up and headed out because we were celebrating my dad's birthday that afternoon! I just love the lake...I just need to come up with better sleeping arrangements!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

This year we have been looking for ways to really differentiate between our on-level classes and advanced classes. On a day to day basis, we generally move a little faster in the advanced classes and we ask more higher level thinking questions. Not so much practicing the "how" but understanding the "why" and then applying it to story problems. To sum it up, it's more problem solving. But we also wanted something more concrete for our advanced students, so we decided to do a 1st semester project and a 2nd semester project. I have not shared the first semester project on here, but hopefully I will do that next year. Second semester went by so quickly, we really didn't decide on anything. However, I ran across a wonderful blog that had an awesome idea for 6th graders and it incorporated a lot of what we learned throughout the year. So I thought I would give it a try. It's a career project called "When I Grow Up." If you want to check out the original source for this project and a lot more GREAT ideas go the Math-n-Spire. She has several great ideas especially for middle school students. I had to alter her original project quite a bit because she works at a Christian Academy and I am at a public school! But here it is!

The time frame for this project is about 3-4 weeks. I had them complete everything at home. Most of the time it took a whole class period to explain each section, but they don't actually get to work on it during class. I selected a day to start and then I passed out these two papers and went over them.

After we went over everything I passed out their Career Project Worksheet #1, which looks like this.

The students had one week to complete this portion. On the day that I selected for them to be turned in, I made sure I had time to grade them that evening or the next, so there wasn't too much time between the 1st and 2nd worksheets. You just need to make sure their information is close to what an actual person doing that job would be. For instance, if they said a teacher would be making $100,000 a year, I would probably have them research again! :) When I was finished grading all papers, I handed them back with the necessary corrections and then handed out worksheet #2 which looks like this. Again, it took about a whole class period to go over and explain your expectations for this one as well.

This is the bulk of the math involved. They are making a budget for what they can spend on different things with the amount they are making. Something to keep in mind, the initial worksheet asks the students to list the starting out pay and a "seasoned veteran's" pay, so when they made their budget, I made them use their starting out pay. I let the students have a week to complete this. You may want to give them two weeks if you have a busy schedule going on with your every day class stuff. But I have found that no matter how much time you give kids, they always wait until the last minute anyway. Again, the day you select to have them turn this in, make sure you have time in the evenings to grade it. When I got these all graded and I passed them back, I gave them one day in class to start working on their projects. I reserved a computer lab for those working with powerpoint or creating a movie. They probably could have used 2 days in the computer lab, but I emphasized that most of this project will be done at home.

Lastly, here is the evaluation I used to assess them.

In total, it is worth 200 points. I made two per page so there would be less copying! :)

Overall, the students did an AWESOME job! I was really excited to see all of them dress up and look professional. I didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few.

vet

professional athlete

surgeon

all in the medical field!

I believe that if you save the photos of the project to your computer you can convert the file to pdf or whatever format you want. I use the file converter website zamzar.com
Does anyone else have any great projects that you use with your students that you would recommend?
Happy Teaching!!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

This past weekend a group of 10 of us took a little trip to Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. We booked the trip several months in advance, so we were a little disappointed to find out that the weather was not going to be on our side for a lake trip. But with the group of people that went, there was never a dull moment...so we still had a great time!! Since we were going to be on a boat for an entire weekend, Trevor decided he was going to be head chef! So the day before we left, Trevor and I made a trip to Walmart and bought a TON of food!

On the trip there, Bullock forgot about his Redbull on the roof of his car!

Here is a sneak peak of the boat...

on the top deck

kitchen and hallway

our little room

another room

Please notice Bullock's boots hanging....I think he fell in the water pretty early on!

We were all a little nervous prior to arriving about how nice this boat really was (sorry for doubting you Bullock), but I have to say, we were all pretty impressed! There were 4 little rooms with double beds in each, plus a pull out couch in the living room (easily sleeps 10). There were two bathrooms and showers, a living room with a TV (where we Thundered Up a lot!), you could drive the boat from inside or up top on the outside, and the best part was a hot tub on the top deck! Since it was pretty cold outside, we really didn't get out much except to get in the hot tub. But here are some fun pics from the weekend!

head chef

hot tub time!

was this before or after you lost your phone???

this seemed to be a common problem in the rocks!

i just love him!

it was a little dark, so he busted out the head light!

last day on the boat!!

Thanks for booking the trip Captain Bullock!

We had an awesome time! If you are ever looking to rent a houseboat that's decently priced, definintely look into Dream Chasers on Lake Ouachita! To everyone that went on the trip...that's for making it a memorable weekend!! :)

About Us

Loving life and enjoying every moment!
I married my best friend and high school sweetheart on June 4, 2011 and life is just getting better and better. We are both in our twenties, love hanging out with our friends, taking our pups on walks, and being close to family! We have 2 ADORABLE and PERFECT puppies named Winston and Whiskey! They are our children for now! We purchased our first home in May 2012 and are loving playing house! This blog is mainly for our friends and family to stay updated on our lives and what we are doing! Hope you enjoy!